Enhanced safety bobbing head sculptural sculptures

ABSTRACT

A bobble head sculpture comprising a base portion which is defined by an outer surface member defining an internal volume is disclosed. A spring has first and second ends. A bobbing member is mounted on the first end of the spring. A support base member is secured to the second end of the spring. The support base member is contained within the internal volume. Stuffing is contained within the internal volume. The stuffing bears against the support base member. The support base member extends to the edges of the volume at a plurality of points on the outer surface member whereby the support base member is held in a relatively stationary position by those points on the outer surface member and the stuffing. In accordance with the invention, the base portion may be the body portion of a figure and the bobbing member the head of the figure. The stuffing may comprise a mixture of plastic beads and a fibrous material. Optionally, the spring is covered by a crimped or gathered fabric sleeve. A measure of safety is provided by the inventive system by making the sculpture soft account of the nature of the stuffing disposed in the internal body.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to sculptural sculptures with bobbingheads typically placed on the front or rear dashboard of an automobile

REFERENCE TO FEDERAL FUNDING

Not applicable.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND

So-called bobble head or bobbing head sculptural sculptures are used byconsumers primarily on the rear dashboard of automobiles, behind therear of automobile seats. Typical subjects for such sculptures arereclining dogs and baseball players, whose heads wobble over thesculpture's body which is secured to the dashboard.

Such bobble head sculptures may typically comprise a hard plastic body,and a hard plastic head, connected to each other by a spring.

Such wobbling is caused by the movement of the automobile, which forcesmovement of the body of the sculpture, allowing inertia to resist thedisplacement of the head of the sculpture which is secured to the bodyof the sculpture by a spring. Alternatively, the head of the sculpturemay be attached to the body of the sculpture by another type ofmounting, such as a pivot mounting, a pin and post mounting, a rubberband mounting, or any other type of mounting.

During use, the bobble head sculpture is moved about by the movement ofthe automobile and the head bobs, simulating the movements, for example,of a living animal or person.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Such bobble head sculptures suffer from a number of shortcomings. Forexample, in the event that the bobble head sculpture is used in anautomobile, sudden stopping of the automobile or an accident may closethe bobble head sculpture to be violently accelerated to the front ofthe passenger compartment, where it may hit occupants on the vehicle.

Moreover, the exposed spring may present a safety hazard, especially tochildren.

Finally, children are likely to pull the head of the bobble headsculpture from the money, thus stretching out the spring and disablingthe bobble head's ability to bobble.

In accordance with the invention, the above disadvantages aresubstantially eliminated. The same is achieved through the use of a softskin which surrounds the surface of the bobble head sculpture. Inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the soft skinis plush fabric of the type typically used in the manufacture of teddybears and other toy animal figures. Enhanced softness is achieved bymanufacturing and the bobble head sculpture with a soft stuffing, forexample stuffing made of fibers, beads, feathers and so forth.

More particularly, in accordance of the present invention, the inventivebobble head sculpture comprises a base portion which is defined by anouter surface member defining an internal volume. A spring has first andsecond ends. A bobbing member is mounted on the first end of the spring.A support base member is secured to the second end of the spring, thesupport base member is contained within the internal volume. Stuffing iscontained within the internal volume. The stuffing bears against thesupport base member. The support base member extends to the edges of thevolume at a plurality of points on the outer surface member whereby thesupport base member is held in a relatively stationary position by thosepoints on the outer surface member and the stuffing. In accordance withthe invention, the base portion may be the body portion of a figure andthe bobbing member the head of the figure.

The stuffing may comprise a mixture of plastic beads and a fibrousmaterial. Optionally, the spring is covered by a housing. This housingmay comprise a crimped or gathered fabric sleeve.

A measure of safety is provided by the inventive system by making thesculpture soft account of the nature of the stuffing disposed in theinternal body. The safety feature on the invention may be enhanced bythe outer surface member being made of a plush low friction fabric.Thus, in the event that a car in which they inventive bobble headsculpture is contained were to suddenly stop and the sculpture to behurled forward, the plush nature of the sculpture would be less likelyto cause injury than conventional hardshell of all head sculptures onaccount of the shock absorbing characteristic of the plastic and/orfibrous stuffing. Moreover, impacts with, for example, passengers in theautomobile would be more likely to be glancing blows with minimalfrictional abrasion on account of the low friction characteristics ofcertain plush fabrics.

In accordance with one preferred embodiment, a the bobbing membercomprises an outer shell, and an inner shell, the outer shell having abase secured to the inner shell at the base of the inner shell, andfurther includes a spring support member secured to the inner shell atthe top of the bobbing member at a position inside the outer shell, thefirst end of the spring being secured to the bobbing member adjacent thetop of the inner shell. Such spring support member may be flexible.

In order to secure the inventive sculpture to, for example, the reardashboard of an automobile, a self-adhesive member is secured to thebase of the base portion. A protective layer which may be removed toexpose the self-adhesive member.

Optionally, a weight may be associated with the bobbing member toachieve different bobbing effects. In similar fashion, a differenteffect may be achieved by substituting a gravity driven pivot pointarrangement for the spring. In this case the center of gravity of thehead should be substantially below the pivot point.

The inventive method of making a sculptural work comprises making a basemember. A bobbing member outer shell with a tubular bottom extension isalso constructed. A first end on a spring is secured to the bottom ofthe tubular bottom extension. A second end of the spring is secured tothe bottom of the bottom extension. They tubular bottom extension ispushed into the bobbing member outer shell.

The spring ends may be secured with glue of the type which melts when itis heated and bonds when it is cool or with a silicone or otheradhesive. The second end of the spring may be secured by working througha hole in the bobbing member. In accordance with the preferredembodiment, the tubular bottom extension extends from the bottom of thebobbing member outer shell and is narrower at the bottom of the bottomextension as compared to the size of the tubular bottom extensionadjacent the base of the bobbing member outer shell.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

These and other objects advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description taken in conjunction with the figures, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a side you on the inventive bobble head sculpture;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the head and neck portion of the bobble headsculpture during assembly;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the head of the inventive bobble head sculptureduring assembly;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the head and neck during assembly showing thecompression of the fabric making the neck to allow attention of the headillustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a prospective view of the head attached to the neck of theinventive plush sculpture during assembly;

FIG. 6 is a top view of the head during the securement of the neck tothe head;

FIG. 7 shows the assembled inventive plush sculpture, partially incross-section, to illustrate its inner working parts and construction;

FIG. 8 illustrates the bobbing head function on the inventive sculpture;and

FIG. 9 illustrates a gravity operated bobbing mechanism.

FIG. 10 is an alternative embodiment of the invention illustrating aspringy plastic bobbing assembly; and

FIG. 11 is an alternative embodiment of the invention illustrating aliving hinge bobbing assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE BEST MODE OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a plush bobble head sculpture 10 constructed inaccordance with the present invention is illustrated. Sculpture 10generally comprises a body portion 12 and a head portion 14. Bodyportion 12 may include the features of atypical plush character, such asarms 16 legs 18 and tail 20. Similarly, head 14 may include a nose 22and ears 24.

Referring to FIG. 2, the inventive bobble head sculpture is made byfirst making body portion 12 including elongated plush neck portion 24and non-plush woven fabric portion 26. Except for portion 26 and thebase 28, all portions of body 12 on made of plush fabric. Various depthsof pile for the plush fabric may be used, and the conventions generallyfollowed with 11 respect to the selection of plush fabric in the plushstuffed toy field may be employed in the manufacture of a body 12 inaccordance with the method of the present invention. Similarly, bodyportion 12 may be made using techniques customarily employed in theplush toy field.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment, base 28 may be made of amaterial which provides a smooth outside surface, such as imitationleather, in order to provide a service which may securely engage anothermember to the use of a self-adhesive layer, as more fully appears below.

The inventive bobble head plush sculptural FIG. 10 is manufactured byfirst manufacturing a body portion 12 and a head portion 14 asillustrated in FIG. 3.

In accordance with the present invention, a base member 30 made of, forexample, rigid or semi-rigid material, such as foam plastic, having athickness of, for example, 2.5 millimeters is placed at the bottom ofbody portion 12 as illustrated in FIG. 4. Base member 30 is made toextend to at least three points on the periphery of the inside of thebase of body portion 12, in order to provide a secure anchorage for aspring 32, which is placed inside body portion 12 and secured to basemember 30 using an adhesive material such as a quantity of silicone glue34.

Spring 32 may take a variety of forms depending upon the weight of thehead portion 14, the length of the neck of the inventive sculpture, andthe bobbing characteristic which one wishes to achieve. Spring 32, inaccordance with the preferred embodiment is made of spring wire having adiameter of one millimeter and wound on a radius of approximately 15millimeters. It may be made of spring steel, plastic with a springcharacteristic or any springy material or member, such as a bambooleaf-spring.

Any conventional material or combination of materials for stuffing astuffed animal may be used to fill out the body portion 12 and the headportion 14 of the inventive sculpture. However, in accordance with thepresent invention, it is preferred that at least a portion of thestuffing comprise a made a tubular sleeve 36 filled with plastic beads38. Tubular sleeve 36 is selling in a move so that it extends aroundspring 32 in the form of a doughnut. Additional stuffing material, suchas synthetic fibers may be used to fill out the rest of the plush bodyportion 12.

Base member 30 is inserted into body 12 into the position generallyillustrated in FIG. 4. Next, spring 32 is inserted into body 12. Whilethe spring is being held in position, silicone glue 34 is applied asillustrated in FIG. 4. After silicone glue 34 has cured and hardened,tubular member 36 and beads of plastic 38, together with stuffing 40(FIG. 7) may be inserted into body portion 12 filling out the arms 16,the legs 18 and the remaining portions of the plush sculpture.

Plush neck portion 24 and a non-plush neck portion 26 are thencompressed down around spring 32, as illustrated in FIG. 4, and a rigidor semi rigid plastic plate 40 is disposed around spring 32 andnon-plush neck portion 26. Plate 40 may also be made on relatively stiffhome plastic and come in accordance the invention, has a thickness ofapproximately one millimeter, although a wide range of said the misseswill function well. Plate 40 is then adhered using a flexible adhesive,such as silicone adhesive to the bottom member 42 of head 14.

In addition, a quantity of silicone adhesive 44 is used to adhere theend of spraying 32 to the end of non-plush neck portion 26 and two on amember 42 of head 14. As can be seen in FIG. 5, this operation isperformed by having access to the inside of head portion 14 through hole46. see also get FIG. 6.

As can be seen in FIG. 3, head portion 14 includes a support member 48which comprises a pair of presto conical members, one of which is on theoutside of any wide illustrated in figure three and comprises a prestoconical flexible member 50 made, for example, of felt. Support member 48further comprises an inner presto conical member 52 made of a relativelystiff but still very flexible foam plastic member. Generally member 52must be stiff enough to be inflexible under the voices applied by a headbalmy on spring 32, but flexible enough to be turned inside out as abusemore fully below.

More particularly, in accordance with the preferred embodiment, members50 and 52 may be made from strips of flexible material which are sewedto form the desired frustroconical shape.

After all the above noted glue employed in the assembly of the plushtowel has cured, the inventive sculpture 10 may be put into theconfiguration illustrated in FIG. 7. essentially, this is done byturning support member 48 into the scull of the head portion 14 wherebyoutside surface 54 of support member 48 becomes the inside surface offinished head portion 14.

the structure is completed by securing a double-sided he is a member 56including adhesive layers 58 and 60 to the base of any body portion 12,as illustrated in figure seven. What is desired to use the inventivebobbing head sculpture, a protective member 60 to is peeled away itsbuzzing adhesive layer 60 which may be adhered to a car dashboard or anyother suitable location. In connection with figure seven and otherfigures in the application, it is noted that the thickness of thevarious layers of adhesive and in the support members is exaggerated forthe sake of clarity of illustration.

Once secured to, for example, a car dashboard 66, movement of the carresults in movement of head portion 14 on spring 32 to the positionsillustrated in phantom lines as illustrated by head 14 a and 14 b inFIG. 8.

Turning next to FIG. 9, an alternative embodiment of the inventionsubstantially similar to the device illustrated in, for example, FIG. 7is illustrated. Generally, a bobble head toy 110 includes a head portion114 mounted on a body portion 112. Optionally, weights 168 may be usedto further lower the center of gravity and lend stability to thestructure. In the embodiment shown in this figure, the spring isreplaced by a post 132 which terminates in a tapered point 170 whichsupports rocking member 172 at the apex 174 of rocking member 172. Theresult is a gravity driven wobbling mechanism. Post 132 may beintegrally formed with base 130 in a single injection molding process.

In FIG. 10, yet another alternative embodiment of the invention isillustrated. In the sculptural member 210 illustrated in FIG. 10, spring32 has been replaced by a springy plastic member 232.

Referring to FIG. 11, yet another alternative inventive sculpturalmember 310 is illustrated. Sculptural member 310 as a support post 332.Support post 332 terminates in a living and 362, which is simply a short9 length of been flexible plastic secured by an upper base 364 to headportion 314.

While an illustrative embodiment of the invention has been described, itis, of course, understood that such modifications as may be taught butnot explicitly disclosed in the subject specification are within thespirit and scope of the invention which is limited and defined only bythe appended claims.

1. A sculptural work, comprising: (a) a base portion, said base portionbeing defined by an outer surface member defining an internal volume;(b) a spring having first and second ends; (c) a bobbing member mountedon said first end of said spring; and (d) a support base member, saidsupport base member being secured to said second end of said spring,said support base member being contained within said internal volume. 2.A sculptural work as in claim 1, for the comprising stuffing containedwithin said internal volume, said stuffing bearing against said supportbase member wherein said support base member extends to the edges ofsaid volume at a plurality of points on said outer surface memberwhereby said support base member is held in a relatively stationaryposition by those points on said outer surface member and said stuffing.3. A sculptural work as in claim 2, wherein said base portion is thebody portion of a figure and said bobbing member is the head of saidfigure.
 4. A sculptural work as in claim 3, wherein said stuffingcomprises a mixture of plastic beads and a fibrous material.
 5. Asculptural work as in claim 1 wherein said spring is covered by ahousing.
 6. A sculptural work as in claim 1 further comprising stuffingdisposed in said internal body and wherein said outer surface membercomprises a plush low friction fabric.
 7. A sculptural work as in claim1 where in said bobbing member comprises an outer shell, and an innershell, said outer shell having a base secured to said inner shell at thebase of said inner shell, and further including a spring support membersecured to said inner shell at the top of said bobbing member at aposition inside said outer shell, said first end of said spring beingsecured to said bobbing member adjacent the top of said inner shell. 8.A sculptural work as in claim 7 where in said spring support member isflexible.
 9. A sculptural work as in claim 1 further comprising aself-adhesive member secured to the base of said base portion, andfurther comprising a protective layer which may be removed to exposesaid self-adhesive member.
 10. A sculptural work as in claim 9 whereinsaid spring is covered by a housing, comprising a crimped or gatheredfabric sleeve.
 11. A sculptural work as in claim one, further comprisinga weight associated with said bobbing member.
 12. A sculptural work,comprising: (a) a base portion of said sculptural work; (b) a springhaving first and second ends, said first end of said spring beingsecured to said base portion; (c) a bobbing member mounted on saidsecond end of said spring; and (d) a sleeve disposed around said spring.13. A sculptural work as in claim 12, wherein said sleeve is disposed ina crimped configuration.
 14. A sculptural work, comprising: (a) a baseportion of said sculptural work, said base portion being defined by anouter surface member; (b) a spring having first and second ends, saidfirst end of said spring being secured to said base portion; (c) abobbing member mounted on said second end of said spring; and (d)stuffing disposed in said internal body.
 15. A sculptural work as inclaim 14, wherein said outer surface member comprises a plush lowfriction fabric.
 16. a method of making a sculptural work, comprising:(a) making a base member; (b) making a bobbing member outer shell with atubular bottom extension; (c) securing a first end on a spring to thebottom of said tubular bottom extension; (d) securing a second end ofsaid spring to the bottom of said bottom extension; and (e) pushing saidtubular bottom extension into said bobbing member outer shell.
 17. Amethod as in claim 16, wherein said spring ends are secured with glue.18. A method as in claim 17 where in said glue is of the type whichmelts when it is heated and bonds when it is cool.
 19. A method as inclaim 16, where in said second end of said spring is secured by workingthrough a hole in said bobbing member.
 20. A method as in claim 16,wherein said tubular bottom extension extends from the bottom of saidbobbing member outer shell and is narrower at the bottom of said bottomextension as compared to the size of the tubular bottom extensionadjacent the base of said bobbing member outer shell.
 21. A sculpturalwork, comprising: (a) a base portion of the sculptural work defined by aflexible skin; (b) a support member having first and second ends, thefirst end of said support member being secured to the base portion; (c)a bobbing member; (d) stuffing disposed in said flexible skin; and (d) amovable joint securing said second end of said support member to saidbobbing member.
 22. A sculptural work as in claim 21, where in saidmovable joint comprises a flexible member which secures the second endon said support member to said bobbing member.
 23. A sculptural work asin claim 21, wherein said movable joint is defined by said second end ofsaid support member and a rocking member disposed on and secured to theinside of said bobbing member, said rocking member defining a concavesurface, said concave surface receiving said second end of said supportmember, and said second end forming a tapered end on which said rockingmember rocks.
 24. A sculptural work as in claim 21, for the comprising asleeve disposed around the spring, said sleeve securing said bobbingmember to said base 7 portion.
 24. A sculptural work as in claim 21,further comprising a weight member disposed below said tapered end.